‘Furious 7’ Passes ‘The Avengers’ to Become the Third Highest Grossing Movie of All Time

Breaking news: people all over the world really like fast cars, movie stars, and constant references to family. Related: Furious 7 has just become the third highest grossing movie of all time, overtaking 2012’s The Avengers.

The Fast and Furious franchise has made a habit of shattering any and all expectations. What originally began as a forgettable Point Break rip-off slowly evolved into the definitive action franchise of the past decade. Later films found ways to incorporate the weaker entries in the mythology. Big names constantly joined the cast. Somehow, each film managed to get bigger than the last in terms of box office and scope. The crazier the series got, the more audiences responded. With Furious 7, they’ve responded to the tune of $1,520,032,910 worldwide. Here’s how it stands in the list of the 10 highest grossing movies of all time:

This list doesn’t take inflation into account, but it’s still impressive stuff. No one saw this coming. But hey, this is what you get when you have an ensemble of ethnically diverse and likable performers, a skilled director in the form of James Wan, a canny producer who knows what the people want, and enough wacky car action to appeal to any nation on the globe. Sure, Avengers: Age of Ultron is also in that top 10, but it kinda’ feels like Vin Diesel and company have stolen Marvel’s thunder this weekend.

Furious 7 is about to end its theatrical run, so don’t expect it to go much further than this. Both Titanic and Avatar are still entrenched in those top two spaces and, with the possible exception of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, no one seems capable of dethroning them for the time being. Still, a crazy car chase movie gave two of the splashiest blockbusters of all time a run for their money. There are no words for how impressive that is.